Rating: 
Summary: Very Odd, but I Did Like It
Review: I found "The Blue Flower" to be an odd little book both in style and in content. Set in eighteenth century Germany, "The Blue Flower" tells the true story of university student, Friedrich von Hardenberg, (the man who was later to become known as the poet, Novalis), and his love for a simple-minded young girl of twelve, Sophie von Kuehn. I have to admit that were this story not true, the plot would have been preposterous. Somehow, Fitzgerald made me believe in this improbable love and in the families involved. This was quite a feat, I think, especially given the fact that Fitzgerald never allows us to become too emotionally involved with the characters but keeps us rather distanced instead."The Blue Flower" isn't a conventional novel with a straightforward narrative. Instead, it's episodic and told in fifty-five very short chapters (quite a few for a book of just about 200 pages). If you think this makes the book seem choppy, let me asssure you, it doesn't. Fitzgerald's writing, and the story of Fritz and Sophie is as smooth as silk. This episodic quality, however, is what causes us to feel somewhat distanced from the characters. If you're a reader who needs or wants a lot of involvement in a story, you might be disappointed with "The Blue Flower." Even though "The Blue Flower" makes use of some rather unusual stylistic techniques, Fitzgerald doesn't seem to have been employing them simply for the sake of either art or experimentation. Given the subject matter, I think she made perfect choices throughout. "The Blue Flower" is a book set in the Germany of Goethe and it's peppered with German words and phrases. Luckily, German is a language in which I'm fluent so I didn't find the inclusion of so much of it off-putting in the least. I do think that readers who are unfamiliar with either German or the German speaking world might have a little problem, though. For example, I think there are some who could read the entire book and, at its conclusion, still be wondering what a "Freiherr" was. Fitzgerald offers us no explanations and, on the whole, I thik her choice was a perfect one, but the reader needs to be warned. "The Blue Flower" is also peppered with humor and wit. I found this surprising and I'm in awe of Fitzgerald's abilities. On the surface, one would expect this to be a rather dull, dry story or one given to excessive melodrama. It's neither. Both its humor and its pathos are perfectly tuned. To repeat, "The Blue Flower" is a book based on highly improbable, yet true, facts. It's episodic in style and never permits the reader full engagement with the characters. If any of these elements cause you to to dislike a book, then you'd be better off choosing one of Fitzgerald's other offerings. Be assured though, this isn't a case of "style over substance." The substance is definitely there; it's just presented in a rather innovative manner. Penelope Fitzgerald was a writer whose books are truly "little gems." I know readers who feel she let us down with "The Blue Flower" but she didn't. It's different, but it's still wonderful. The fact that some readers may not care for this difference does nothing to detract from the book itself. If you read it with an open mind and accept it for what it is, I think you'll love it and be enriched by it as much as I was.
Rating:
Summary: Great history but . . .
Review: I think your feelings about this book will depend on your expectations. I didn't get it either -- the exploration of genius and the profound meditation of love and loss. But if you appreciate historicals that evoke the life of the time in details and dialogue, this book is a wonderful example of that. I'll read more of Ms. Fitzgerald's books, but I think I'll skip the editorial reviews.
Rating: 
Summary: Help me to understand
Review: Some of the most wonderful voices I respect cannot say enough good things about Fitzgerald. I long to be able to understand the exquisite sublimity of her writing! I've read The Blue Flower only twice and all I can remember is the chilling commentary inscripted in the front of the book something to the effect, "the account of surgery without anesthetic was taken from real account of Mrs. Someone to her sister Mrs. Another writing a letter regarding her mastectomy..."
Rating: 
Summary: "The finest novel..."
Review: So I have this daydream. I am being interviewed by a journal or magazine. "Tell us the writers that have most influenced you." "Well," I would say, "There are two that come immediately to mind: Seamus Heaney and John Berger. Everything they write seems to be steeped in compassion." "Is that all?", my interrogator would, well, interrogate. "Basically, yes. If I can make others feel the way those two make me feel, I would count myself a great success! One more thing though. Let me tell you about a book that was written by neither of those two. It is by a woman called Penelope Fitzgerald, and happens to be the finest novel I ever read..."
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